Call for applications: Baltic Sea Parliamentary Youth Forum 2026 in Lübeck
The upcoming Baltic Sea Parliamentary Youth Forum 2026, taking place in Lübeck, Germany, from 28 August to 1 September 2026, will bring together around 50 young people from across the Baltic Sea Region and beyond to exchange perspectives, engage directly with decision-makers, and contribute to shaping the future of the region.
The Forum is organised under the Schleswig-Holstein Landtag Presidency of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC) by the Schleswig-Holstein Landtag, the BSPC Secretariat and the CBSS Secretariat in collaboration with the Baltic Sea Region Youth Forum.
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Originally published on 30 Apr
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The Latvian airline airBaltic announces the start of the summer season 2026, running until late October 2026, by introducing nine new routes, relaunching several previously operated services, and increasing frequencies on nearly 30 existing routes from its bases across all three Baltic States and Finland.
Since 29 and 30 March, airBaltic has launched new connections between Riga (Latvia) and Kaunas (Lithuania), Oulu (Finland), and Warsaw (Poland), as well as relaunched services between Riga and Belgrade (Serbia). Additionally, newly launched destinations from Tallinn (Estonia) include Hamburg (Germany) and Vienna (Austria), alongside the relaunch of flights to Oslo (Norway).
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Originally published on 30 Mar
The smallest companies in the Baltics will be eligible for up to €15 million in loans as a result of an initiative that alternative financing provider Capitalia is undertaking with support from the European Investment Fund (EIF). Capitalia will use an EIF guarantee to offer crowdfunded loans to microenterprises in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania over three years.
Microenterprises, which have fewer than ten employees and annual turnover or total assets below €2 million, often struggle to secure funding from traditional lenders because of limited collateral or credit history.
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Originally published on 30 Mar
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending the City of Stockholm 5 billion Swedish kronor (around €470 million euro) to finance the city’s largest environmental investment in decades. The project involves closing the Bromma treatment plant and routing all the city’s wastewater to a significantly expanded and modernised treatment plant at Henriksdal.
The key element of the investment is a new wastewater collection tunnel that will transport sewage from Bromma to Henriksdal. The plant there will be expanded using advanced membrane technology, making it possible to treat more water without increasing the floor area and with significantly better results.
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Originally published on 26 Mar
The defence sector pre-accelerator Defence Business Lab is beginning its second year of operation and is inviting companies and teams to apply with technological solutions that support Estonia’s defence capabilities. The programme helps take defence technologies from idea and prototype stage through to testing and international growth opportunities.
The pre-accelerator is aimed at companies developing technologies applicable in the defence sector that need support in understanding the specific characteristics of the defence market, developing and positioning their solution, and preparing for the next stages of growth, including applying to international programmes.
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Originally published on 27 Mar
From March 17 to 19, a Consortium meeting of the European Union co-funded project H2Deri@BSP took place in Luleå, Sweden. The Freeport of Ventspils Authority was represented by Kaspars Liepiņš, developer of the renewable energy cluster.
During the meeting, project partners familiarised themselves with the Port of Luleå, one of the largest cargo ports in Sweden and an important industrial centre in the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia. They discussed project activities and latest updates and presented interim results of their work tasks. The Freeport of Ventspils Authority presented a techno-economic and commercial model designed to assess the development potential of solar, wind, and hybrid power plants, as well as green hydrogen and its derivative production facilities.
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Originally published on 26 Mar
In a significant move to bolster European energy independence, Hydrogen Cluster Finland and Poland’s key Hydrogen Cluster Lower Silesian Hydrogen Valley Association (LSHVA) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding to accelerate the creation of an integrated hydrogen market in the Baltic Sea region. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed at the leading Polish hydrogen conference, H2 Poland, taking place in Poznań.
The parties agree to cooperate in advancing a sustainable and safe green and low carbon hydrogen economy through knowledge exchange, ecosystem building, and mutual promotion of innovation and industry development. In addition to its regional role in one of the key hydrogen hubs of Poland, LSHVA will serve as national coordination platform for Finnish-Polish hydrogen interests.
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Originally published on 25 Mar
Estonian company PowerUP Energy Technologies, a leading European developer of hydrogen fuel cell solutions, announced its expansion in Scandinavia through a strategic distribution agreement with Greener InfoTech Systems Sweden AB.
Under this agreement, Greener InfoTech Systems AB (GITSAB) will serve as the authorised distributor for PowerUP’s hydrogen-based energy generation products across Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. This partnership is designed to meet the surging demand for portable, zero-emission power in a region that leads the world in the transition toward a hydrogen economy.
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Originally published on 25 Mar
The Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications (ITL) recognised the most outstanding technological achievements and contributors of 2025 at its anniversary event. The Deed of the Year 2025 award was presented to the AI Leap Foundation for launching an education programme that helps Estonian schools adapt to the age of AI.
ITL annually recognises individuals and organisations whose ideas, initiatives or activities have significantly impacted the development of digital technology in Estonia or society more broadly. Awards were presented in four categories: Doer of the Year, Deed of the Year, Breakthrough of the Year and Role Model of the Year.
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Originally published on 24 Mar
The problems affecting the Finnish economy are deep and structural. Sitra proposes a solution in the form of a growth agreement that transcends government terms and party lines.
“Finland has all the necessary prerequisites to overcome its current underperformance. We have world-class technological expertise, strong societal trust that supports growth, and well-functioning institutions. From this starting point, we must aim higher,” says Sitra’s President Atte Jääskeläinen.
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Originally published on 25 Mar
As the volume of court rulings and legal information continues to grow rapidly, not only legal professionals but also public institutions and businesses increasingly require smart solutions to efficiently process large amounts of data and make decisions based not only on statutory law, but also on case law and legal precedents.
To address this need, Latvian law firm iLaw, in collaboration with technology partners, has developed an AI-enabled intelligent database ECLI.ai, significantly improving access to court decisions and legal information analysis. It is anticipated that fast and systematic analysis of rulings will help reduce the risk of contradictory judgments and inconsistencies in legal interpretation, support the development of more coherent case law, and strengthen trust in the judicial system and public administration overall.
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Originally published on 25 Mar